Writing Outside Your Culture: The Importance of Group Names

When writing outside your race or culture, it is particularly important to avoid labels that unintentionally disparage the race or cultural group.

My second middle-grade historical novel, Creating Esther, is about an Ojibwe girl who goes to an Indian boarding school at the end of the 19^th Century. My first dilemma was whether to use “Indian” or “Native American.” I didn’t want to offend anyone by using the word “Indian,” but that was what Native Americans were called at the time of my story, and every boarding school had “Indian” in its name. For historical purposes, that was the best choice. But was it acceptable?

One of the stops on my 2015 research trip in 2015 was at the Grand Portage National Monument, where the exhibits in the Heritage Center answered my question about using the term “Indian.” A sign near the entrance stated:

Although the term “Native Americans” was once considered more acceptable than “Indians,” today most Indian people in the United States—including Grand Portage—refer to themselves and their families as just that: “Indians.” In the exhibits here in the Heritage Center we have used “Indians” or “Native people” more or less interchangeably.

My second question was what to call the tribe itself. The legal name is Chippewa, and that is the name I was familiar with when growing up in Chippewa County, Michigan. But most tribes call themselves Ojibwe (or Ojibwa or Ojibway). Then there is Anishinaabe, which is the older version. Again, I’ll let the exhibit at Grand Portage provide the answer, which you can read in the photo at the head of this post.

Based on those exhibits, I ended up using “Indian” and “Ojibwe.”

When writing historical fiction outside your culture, it is important to balance historical accuracy with sensitivity to the group’s feelings. Sometimes history has to win out, but think carefully about your choice.

And sometimes it’s as easy as asking.

__________

The photo shows a sign in the exhibit area at Grand Portage National Monument in Grand Portage, Minnesota.

__________

This post was repurposed from the July 28, 2016 post I wrote for the Hoosier Ink blog sponsored by the Indiana Chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers.